Former Albion mayor says assisting veterans on Patriot Trips was best part of the job with Hawley

Photos by Tom Rivers: Eileen Banker is shown outside the office for Assemblyman Steve Hawley at 121 North Main St., Albion, on Friday, her last day on the job. Banker, a former Albion mayor, has retired.

ALBION – Eileen Banker remembers the time not too long ago when she was petrified to speak in public and was much more comfortable in the background, instead of up front speaking to crowds of people.

But Banker has found herself often with a microphone, and often part of the local leadership circles. Banker served a four-year term as Albion mayor until 2022, and was on the Village Board for eight years before that.

The past 19 years she has worked for Assemblyman Steve Hawley, including 18 years as his chief of staff. She retired on Friday.

Banker, 62, enjoyed the work, especially helping constituents resolve problems with a number of state agencies. She liked working with the local government leaders, pushing through projects and tackling long-festering problems with infrastructure or more simple ones like a proliferation of potholes after the winter.

Banker said her greatest joy has been being part of annual Patriot Trips that Hawley leads in September, taking veterans on 15 trips so far to see war memorials and landmarks in the nation’s capital.

Hawley praised Banker for her deep roots in the community, along with her steadfast advocacy.

“Eileen Banker is a model of what public service should look like,” said Hawley. “From being my chief of staff, to serving as the mayor of Albion and a former village trustee, her dedication to this community is unmatched. I’m thankful for her years of service to this district and its constituents, and I offer her the utmost congratulations on her well-earned retirement.”

Banker said she looks forward to more time with her family, including husband Dale, who is retired as the Orleans County emergency management coordinator and has been a volunteer firefighter for nearly 50 years.

With Banker’s retirement, Hawley promoted former executive assistant Jayleen Carney as the new chief of staff. Jacki Tarricone is Hawley’s new executive assistant.

“I couldn’t be prouder of my staff as they continue to serve the people of Western New York,” Hawley said. “Jayleen has been an amazing asset to our team, putting in countless hours to keep our office running in good shape and planning events such as our annual Patriot Trip. I’m also proud to bring Jacki Tarricone on board to continue our mission of providing meaningful results for the residents of the 139th Assembly District. Our offices are open and available to hear your concerns and address your needs.”

Banker was in her late 30s when she decided to go to college. She took a buyout from Washington Mutual, a company based in Seattle that took over the former Dime Bank.

Banker had worked at the site for about 15 years, including Dime’s predecessor, Anchor Savings Bank. She was ready for a new challenge. She enrolled at Genesee Community College and took her studies very seriously. She was on the Dean’s List and earned her associate’s degree.

Her first job with her college degree was at Batavia Downs, working as the human resources manager for the new casino. She did that for a year when the position opened at Hawley’s office. It was in Albion, her hometown, and would spare her the everyday drive back and forth on Route 98 to Batavia.

Eileen Banker, third from right, joins local officials in a ribbon-cutting celebration on Sept. 24, 2022 for a new pavilion and other upgrades at the Yates Town Park. Banker attended many celebrations on behalf of Assemblyman Hawley in the past 19 years.

Banker gave the following interview on Friday with the Orleans Hub at Hawley’s district office:

Question: What are some of the things call the district office about?

Answer: It can be hard for people to navigate through different state departments. We have a lot of good liaisons for each one of the departments. When people call us with an issue, whether it’s the Department of Labor, the Department of Taxation and Finance, we have really good liaisons we can contact. We can’t help make a decision go in their direction but we can get somebody who can help them navigate through what they need to get as far as answers whether it be a positive or negative.

Question: I can see where the Average Joe would not no where to turn, even if it’s whether you call village, town, county or state.

Answer: It’s difficult. People have issues. A perfect example is a road. They might not know if it’s town road, village road, a state road. When you’re doing this job enough, you kind of know the roads – which one is a route, which one is a road, which one is a street. You know if it’s a county, state or village road.

We’re able to navigate them to who they need to talk with.

Question: Now people would call about a pothole?

Answer: It could be a pothole, a drainage issue, we get all sorts of questions, animal issues, deer issues. Some things we can help them with and some things we can’t. If it’s not a state issue we can get them to the right people who could help them.

Question: The formal resolutions or proclamations, is that a big part of the job, putting those together, whether the county’s bicentennial or an Eagle Scout?

Answer: Citations and proclamations, we do a lot of those. The large proclamations are done in Albany, but we got a lot of the information for the staff in Albany to get the proclamations done. Jayleen (Hawley’s new chief of staff) does most of the citations. She is very good at that.

I done some of the ones for teen of the week and 100^th birthdays.

Question: I’m surprised too when I see people will have an Orleans Hub story mailed to them from Hawley’s office.

Answer: Anything we see in the newspaper. We constantly look for articles where people are getting congratulations, or any new businesses or things like that. We are constantly sending things out congratulating people, letting them know we see it. Steve writes little notes on them, saying good job.

Question: I know you go to a lot of things and you being there definitely makes it feel bigger, whether it’s you or Steve. When I’m at some events and Steve or Rob (Ortt) can’t be there in person it can feel like a letdown to the people.

Answer: Unfortunately, they’re in Albany from January through June.

Question: I’m not faulting them. But it’s nice that you’ve been here a long time and it’s not a revolving door of staff people. I think you’ve been a good ambassador for Steve. Many see you as the next-best-thing if Steve can’t make it.

Answer: I’ve met a lot of people that way over the years. It’s been 19 years. You meet a lot of people, the department heads, the town supervisors, the clerks. You know them on a first-name basis. And we talk to them a lot. There are a lot of issues. There are things we can help them with and its good to have that relationship with the towns, the villages and the counties.

Question: With you being on the Village Board and then Albion mayor was that a way to have a more direct involvement?

Answer: Yes, and you see how things work. You can’t fix everything. You think you can, and you get on the Village Board to fix things. But with the layers of government it’s difficult to fix things. Even at the state levels, it’s difficult to fix things and you still have to go through layers.

I still get very frustrated watching session, even as of yesterday. Watching the debates on the floor and what they’re voting on, I think some of it is very menial with what they should really be concentrating on. It’s just crazy. Some of the things I won’t miss in this job is Albany, I believe, can be very dysfunctional.

What’s important to them is not important to us.

Question: Now something like Medina’s bed tax would that process have started with a phone call to this office?

Answer: Yes.

Question: And I know there is some issue now, where the village had to revote on it and Albany needs to redo it. Just that local tax has been a five-year saga.

Answer: Any little thing that is wrong with the resolution and you have to do the whole thing all over again. It’s got to be perfect or it will get kicked out my the majority. They’ve only got a few weeks left.

All that legislation, which is home-rule legislation, is usually done from now to the end of June. From January until now, no of the home-rule legislation is done. Now they have to make sure everything is right if they are going to get it to the floor and get it voted on.

Question: Have you changed a lot the past two decades or so since you went to college and worked this job and been in local government?

Answer: Oh yeah, I’ve learned a lot about government and what is important to constituents in this area.

Question: It seems you might have been a less-confident person in your late 30s and now you’re leaving a much stronger person.

Answer: That’s true. It’s funny when I was younger you would not have gotten me to speak in front of people. I would not have done that, even when I worked at the bank I wouldn’t have done that.

When I went to GCC I had to take a public speaking class. That certainly helped me. Working for Steve, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to stand up and speak on behalf of Steve, and being on the Village Board.

Question: I think most people would say when you were on board you weren’t a pushover and would throw down the hammer when needed.

Answer: You don’t want to be a really gruff person but you don’t want people to walk on you either.

You don’t want to look like you don’t know what you’re doing, but you want to be open-minded. I don’t think you do people a favor when you say you can do something when really you can’t. I don’t think that’s right. To me that’s just being a politician. I’ve always been a straightforward person. Some people don’t like that.

Question: What will you miss the most about this job?

Answer: What I will miss the most, and I’m going to get teary-eyed (voice cracks), is the Patriot Trip. I have met the best people on this Patriot Trip. I have heard the most grueling stories.

We have had veterans open up who have never opened up to their families before. I’ve made great friends with these veterans. It’s been an honor to meet them and to take them to the different monuments and to see how they react to these monuments.

Photo courtesy of Assemblyman Steve Hawley’s Office: The 79 people on the Patriot Trip visited the World War II Memorial in September 2022.